Impalement of fakir drops
Water drops deposited on hydrophobic materials decorated with dilute micro-posts generally form pearls. Owing to the hydrophobicity of the material, the drop sits on the top of the posts. However, this "fakir state" is often metastable: if the drop impales inside the texture, its surface e...
| Κύριοι συγγραφείς: | , , |
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| Μορφή: | Journal article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Έκδοση: |
2008
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| Περίληψη: | Water drops deposited on hydrophobic materials decorated with dilute micro-posts generally form pearls. Owing to the hydrophobicity of the material, the drop sits on the top of the posts. However, this "fakir state" is often metastable: if the drop impales inside the texture, its surface energy is lowered. Here we discuss the transition between these two states, considering the drop size as a parameter for inducing this transition: remarkably, it is found that a drop impales when it becomes small, which is interpreted by considering its curvature. This interpretation allows us to propose different recipes for avoiding this detrimental effect. © Europhysics Letters Association. |
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